[October 2011 Update: At BlizzCon 2011, Blizzard was asked what had happened to the remains of Arthas, Kael’thas, and Illdian. Blizzard’s answer?
“It is likely we will bring Illidan back, not so much for Kael’thas, he already had his come back. Arthas’s body is somewhere but we don’t really know where.”
So… looks like we’ll be seeing Illidan again. Very nice.]
It was a great shock to a lot of fans of WoW’s lore that Illidan Stormrage actually dies when you defeat him at the end of Black Temple. This was doubly surprising when taking into account Chris Metzen at Blizzcon 2005 who said we’d only be “slowing him down”.
So there’s the question? Is Illidan really dead? Is his active participation in Warcraft’s lore over?
I don’t think so, and it simply comes down to this… from a storytelling standpoint, his arch is not yet complete and he is a character primed for redemption. Corruption and redemption are two exceptionally prevalent themes in Warcraft’s lore and I can’t believe Metzen would waste utilizing that theme on such a popular character who was ready for it.
As far as Illidan’s arch goes, remember, Illidan is THE demon hunter the same way his brother Malfurion is THE druid. Illidan is also the reason for the well of eternity and therefore substantially responsible for Azeroth’s most recent confrontation with the Burning Legion. Kil’Jaeden leads the Burning Legion for Sargeras and is the lore’s most powerful demon.
Demon Hunter & Demon
Cause of the Invasion & Leader of the Invasion
See where I’m going with this?
It only makes sense that Warcraft’s most powerful demon hunter would be the one to defeat the most powerful demon; especially now that the lore has made it personal.
As far as Illidan’s death goes, as a writer I can tell you that bringing a character back to life is one of the easiest retcons imaginable. And it doesn’t even necessarily require a retcon. Is Illidan dead, or is his soul now a prisoner of Kil’Jaeden as Ner’zhul’s once was?
So what would the context and catalyst be for such a fight?
Remember, Illidan has done hideous, horrible things, but there is one element of his being that has always remained pure, selfless, and true, his unquestioning love for Tyrande.
If Kil’Jaeden hurt Tyrande, Illidan would kill him. Simple as that. Dead or not. The rest is just filling in the blanks.
And by killing Kil’Jaeden, Illidan would finally reach redemption and complete his character’s arch. Because of this, I don’t think Illidan would survive the fight either and this would be his real end.
Such a battle would likely rival even Grom vs. Mannoroth.
You are not prepared!
Update: At the BlizzCon 2010 Lore Panel, the following question and answer were given…
Will we ever see a redemption or resurrection of Illidan as a Character?
BOY DO I WANT TO DO THAT. That’d be badass. I don’t think anyone at all has ever talked about that. But I love that shit. I’m a sucker for a good redemption story. Except Arthas. Not Arthas. He’s dead.
So… “anyone at all”? Maybe at Blizzard, but not around here with Loregy’s readers.
-C-
{ 64 comments… read them below or add one }
I too hope Illidan is not dead. Though… I don’t like the idea that Tyrande has to die for him to be redeemed. I like Tyrande.
Now I didn’t say “die”, I said “hurt”. 😉
It drives me crazy that any really important character in the Warcraft story must be redeemed, and I really hope the trend has some breaks in it somewhere. I know the Warcraft universe is supposed to have actual good and evil as forces, but does Metzen really have to have people flick between them so frequently?
I’d like to see a character fall into darkness and stay there for once. True tragedy tugs at the heart strings more than a lame redemption, same as leaving some people dead is far better than having their ghosts return for some trivial thing (Uther, for example, would perhaps be better off dead than being summoned in Western Plaguelands for trivial matters).
Now that Illidan’s dead, I’m waiting to see what happens to Arthas and I’d love to hear what you think about his predicament. If he’s redeemed that could be lame. If he’s released from the grip of Ner’zhul and left to fend for himself in a world hostile to him that’d be interesting. If he’s killed as the depraved individual he is and damned for all eternity for his choices, with a large fanfare and enough story to make us feel sorry for him, that’d be awesome. Not because I’m some evil person that likes to see others suffer, but because it’d be a reality check; while demons are pure evil and Naaru are pure good, mortals can be both and have to deal with the consequences of their evil choices.
There was a thread on the US general forums where people were debating how Arthas would die, whether it’d be one of the following or a mixture:
Uther the Lightbringer (as a death knight)
Sylvannas Windrunner (as revenge)
Jaina Proudmore (as pity)
Thrall (as necessity)
A few others were mentioned, and the whole discussion was fairly interesting. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on what would be the most emotionally moving end for Arthas’ crusade.
Fine, hurt.
I still don’t want to see her hurt.
Hi Cocles,
interesting discussion here.
I firmly believe Illidan is not dead, he is one of the most influent characters in the current history of Azeroth and Outlands, his path to corruption started back in the time when the War of The Ancients took place. Then he was condemned and spent 10.000 years plotting his revenge, I’m sure he figured out everything.
Illidan already knew about the portal being reactivated, the “invasion” of warriors from Azeroth wasn’t unexpected for him, he knew this Azerothians were after his head and also knew there might be a possibility for Maiev to be released (via treachery or maybe the NEs doing it) so he could make some arrangements to avoid being defeated at all.
As you said, one of the major themes of WoW is redemption, we saw that with Meidvh, Grom, and other less important characters.
Bruce says this is kind of repetitive, this could be true, but lets no forget the powerful one hasn’t redeemed yet (and probably never will). I’m talking of Sargeras.
Regarding Arthas’s defeat probably would involve Tirion and Ashbringer (Frostmourne v/s Ashbringer maybe?).
I too agree with the fact that Illidan- a major, and often favorited lore character- would be killed so undramatically, so meaninglessly. He might be somehow involved in Wrath of the Lich King… maybe revenge on Arthas? Joining the players as an NPC, maybe?
Maiev was resurrected, Kael’thas and Kel’Thuzad will be resurrected… so why not Illidan, who is stronger than any of them?
if you want him back please sign this petition to blizzard 😀
http://www.petitiononline.com/iiiidan/petition.html
I must say you’ve made a very insightful argument. I too am an author and I never even noticed that pattern. Illidan is my favorite WC character and has been since I played Reign of Chaos. Based on those patterns, knowing Blizzard, and the fact that heroes come back all the time…I too believe (and hope) that Illidan will “return” if he hasn’t already. Based on Blizzard’s definition of “killing” concerning WoW…I also must add that it seems like anytime they mention that a major character is killed–Kael’thas, Vashj, or any other character that was big in WCIII–isn’t really dead but is just “transferred to the Alter.”
A di V
Personally, I think Illidan being killed by players would be the same as Arthas being killed by players… it’s just so ridiculous… I think when we ‘killed’ him, that he actually was only banished into the Emerald Dream with his brother.
What he does there is up to him. He’s safe there from Kil’Jaeden and all… In fact, I don’t really remember WHY we killed him… what was the point other than he was bad? Something about Akama i think… anyway, bleh.
Come to think of it, he wasn’t doing anything other than sitting at his house watching the tube and eating Azerothian Gnome Chips…
Anyway, I forget what he was doing that’s so bad that we had to kill him but my point is that, and this is just my opinion, a bigger question of good/evil and redemption would be Arthas.
Personally, Arthas becoming Lich King was the reason I started WoW so i could see him come out of his funk. I want him to break free of Ner’zhul and then help you fight Ner’zhul (now with a physical form courtesy of “WTFPWNED” lore tatics.) and THAT’s the death of the Lich King… and of course Arthas would have to die too because Frostmourne permanently bound itself to him (not Ner’zhul) and that makes him evil… Fordring or whatever his name is from the Death Knight ending in-game cinematic has to kill him ’cause that’s epic….
Illidan is alive, killing him would be teh gey.
I fully aggre with Tyrande shouldent get hurt 😀
But, Tyrande said that she believed illidan would become a hero once again when she left Furion to free him. I believe Illidan of all people will defeat or kill Arthus.
It could be possible that he is brought back through a mysterious ritual by Maeiv. (The Crazy b*tch loves him, don’t deny it!)
That, or we may see him again in a Sargeras/Demon-based Expansion (Yay, another one). It’s impossible for him to really be dead though – There are too many factors for his ‘ressurection’.
Malfurion, Maeiv, Kil’jaeden or even Sargeras having ‘stored’ his Soul (Hey, if my Warlock can store the Priest’s soul.. then the damn Lord of all Demons should be able to do so with Illidan’s).
So who knows.
Metzen made a comment some time ago about Illidan’s death when asked about it. I cannot remember the exact quote, but it was something like:
“Illidan’s kinda like Boba Fett. He’s this really cool character, but in the end he’s not that important and ends up dying like a chump.”
I wouldn’t be a fan of Illidan’s return or redemption, despite the fact that I RP a demon hunter and have had a huge love-affair with their lore for over four years now. The core of Illidan’s character is his tragedy. The core of Maiev’s character is that she has nothing to live for aside from the hunt for Illidan.
Thus, having Maiev kill Illidan like she did serves two purposes:
1) It retains the tragedy of Illidan’s character, the misunderstood “hero” who did all the right things for entirely wrong reasons, and ended up being shunned, hated, and hunted for it.
And
2) It serves as a poetic and fitting end for Maiev Shadowsong, whose sole purpose has been Illidan’s hunt. So much so that she would even lie to her superiors and own people to achieve her goal. Her hatred transcended all else, and to have her life be completely and UTTERLY meaningless after Illidan’s death is … just awesomely fitting.
Interesting angle.
I have to wonder though if Blizzard is not redeeming Arthas in other to give them breathing room to redeem someone like Illidan (for 5 minutes to kill KJ).
That being said, one other strong question has been, “Who has a real personal bone to pick with with KJ”. For a long time Illidan topped that list, but at the very end of Burning Crusade, Kalecgos stepped up there beside him.
In terms of an expansion, I think this would work out extremely well. You’ve already mentioned that Emerald Dream is highly likely to be the next expansion in line, and Demon Hunters the heroic class that will be playable. Now imagine if Illidan, redeemed, were to be the one to train the new Demon Hunters and let them loose into the next content. I think that would work amazingly well, and Blizzard isn’t above doing it as Arthas himself helped the Death Knight’s along in WotLK.
I believe illidan is WAY too important to to just die…Ya he may be like a Boba fet but like Boba fet his legacy wont just die…*cough* Jango fet
Ah, but his legacy’s NOT dead. Demon hunters still exist. His family is still around. Illidan’s legacy is far from gone. But he, as a character, is dead.
i think illidan will be turned good by his defeat in BT and will lead his demon hunter(new hero class) against the legion in a new expansion.
Also, Boba Fett didn’t actually go out like a chump. Assuming you are referring to him falling into the sarlacc pit, he actually managed to escape and went on to lead a much more dynamic and fulfilling life (mostly because Lucas didn’t realize how big of a hit he would be)
Very nice article… I also wholeheartedly agree with the idea of bringing Illidan back. Not so much because he never should have been dead in the first place, but because of how bland and insignificant his death was in Burning Crusade – at the hands of adventurers! mere players who could just raid his temple and kill him in association with a weak and rushed story involving Akama and Maiev… As a colossal character in the Warcraft universe, with such an incredibly good connection in the lore, Illidan should have certainly deserved a much more proper finale.
I am certain that Blizzard now regrets the way they handled Illidan in the Burning Crusade. They are certainly taking more time now with Arthas in Lich King, and I hope that they don’t make the same mistake again. If the final death of Arthas will come, then let it be a memorable and remarkable one. As of now, Illidan’s end is truly unsatisfactory though. And I feel like a comeback either in an expansion to WoW, or perhaps in a later installment of this franchise, would be great. Seeing him meet his end in a colossal battle with Kiljaedan and the Burning Legion would be most satisfactory!
If Illdan is really dead, then its a really bad way for him to die. so in the lore they say he was killed by a bunch of Known players with the help of Maive and Akama. thats not good 🙁
A character that GREAT like Illdan deserves a better ending
All for him getting revenge on Arthas.. appearing in the end fight to (steal the kill) mortally wound Arthas then returning fully to the story when Azshara is back in the picture. Hopefully a little more ambiguous as he was during warcraft 3.
I think he’s exactly the same as Ner’zhul, Sargaras would have great pleasure in keeping him encased in his tortured existence.
Though I could see his return coinciding with the revenge promised by the nathrezim Mal’Ganis .. (possibly ‘using him’ as their weapon, as Mal’Ganis is too cowardly)
sign petition if you want him alive
http://www.petitiononline.com/iiiidan/petition.html
>>>Hello…
( I apologize for my english)
I am glad to see that many people understand what lore of Warcraft is really about…
It is awsome to hear good ideas and good interpretations of story and as One of the biggest Illidan’s fan, I would like to give some more ideas as I see them going and fitting in this glory of Illidan…Please don’t discard some of posible theories just couse they are apsurd ( that is the beauty of immagination)…so lets begin>>>
1. As Malfurion killed the Archimonde ( druid-druid ) , Illidan will kill Kil’jaedan ( demon-demon) …now I am saying druid and demon couse that is how Arch. and KIl’j. are seen in the game.
2. Illidan=Lich in terms of hunger for power…I wont talk about LIch couse he will play role in Killing Kil’jaedan and going back to Drenor=Outland.
Fight between Arthas and Illidan was simulated( just Immagine fitst time they met they were fighting longer then in the second one, even Illidan consumed Eye of Sargeras-so he can see how Arthas is really powerful, and Guil’dan’s memories and powers-knowledge) .
3. 10000 years in prison and yet he forgived his brother ( that is hard-he knew that he did wrong for using lake as Well and bringing doom to his nation Nightelfs so he sentenced him self to stay and not to complain) . Other side of story, Why he should stop using magic, he was the only one born with Golden eyes ( great magic potencial ) . Also he has ewery right to hate Furion ( for taking his love, forbiting the magic use, inprisonning him, not supporting when he needed him the most ) . Illidan did what was good at…Folowing His Dream.
…I wont talk about Furion couse he is Great caracter and would’t like to blure his fame…He was the patien one , the shan’do and Had to take responsability for the nation ( but sometimes nice words do not work and you need Illidan)
4. Illadan took Naga=qursed Nightelfs who were not bad, and never asked for revenge to help them as he knew they share the same passion.
5. With Eye of Sargeras he could see that he can’t defeat Kil’jaedan as he become close “ally” to him, so he had to play both sides…the story had to finish with removing Illidan from the lore because of second failure to destroy LIch ( now don’t tell me that he could’t do it, and who survived Frostbourne…what matter is what would Happen if he would defeat Lich, he would really betrey Tirenide and his brother for who He has Great respect ) …So He had to play bad in outland and let 5th grade heroes “kill him” …
6. You Are Not Prepered…the famous words. 90% of players don’t know what is he talking about, not about himself for sure…
For lore I finish here…
Personal Wiew…Illidan as Master magician could go to emerald dream for 10000 years, and could escape any time he wanted. He can use Image to run away. He can mana Burn any hero and make him a regular unit with extra armour. He can avoid attacks. He can walk leaving firemarks( cool) . He can fly. He can love but not Be loved( not cool) . He can see magic. He has memories and powers of the most powerfull warlock ever ( gul’dan-who thought he can clame Sargeras powers from the tomb for himself) He survived Openning the Tomb Of Sargeras and Frostbourne. He saved Tiranide. He fought with his brother in First war after seeing coruption of his people. He is Badass.
He is Demon-Hunter true and only Illidan Stormrage Shan’do.
For those who liked this don’t worry there will be Illidan and dozens movies about Him…
I red my post couple of times and found too many mistakes ( gramatic type) it is couse of too many ideas and no much time. Please understand me, english is my 4th language and I am getting better…just I have to study more and play less Warcraft 🙂 …
Hi,
I know this post is old but I just “found” your blog and I agree Illidan isn’t dead. I just have a different theory.
1) He wasn’t a bad guy. The mortal races and Illidan had a common enemy The Legion. Illidan’s methods were a bit on the coo coo side but the enemy of my enemy is my friend. He was in Outland using Magtheron’s blood to build his own army of fel orcs to use against the legion. Keal’thas even tells us that Illidan can’t stop him from summoning Kil’jaeden and yet we try to stop Illidan anyway. Through out WC the mortal races were never the brightest bulbs in the box. It was also just stupid. Superman doesn’t kill batman cause his methods are different.
2) He’s smart and sneaky. He says he knew that Keal’thas would betray him and he had a feeling Akuma wasn’t all he appeared to be. Through out his life all his plans were interrupted by people poking around his business and the events in outland are no different. He would know the only way to finish his work in peace would be to disappear.
3) Faked death. Ok follow me on this. Illidan knew Keal’thas would betray him. One can assume he knew about Akama’s plans. He was still wanted dead by the legion and now the mortal races want his legendary weapons. One cna assume while he had Maive captive he struck a deal. She appears to kill him where everyone can see, he’ll come with her as her prisoner (the one thing Maive wants most) as long as she lets him plot revenge on the legion. Maive gets what she wants, Illidan gets what he wants…win win. What better way to be left alone if everyone, friends and enemies either witness or hear about your downfall and eventual death.
4) No proof of his death. Every major raid boss has SOMETHING you loot off of them that is proof they’re dead. Be it a phylactery, essence, tooth, vial of blood, scales, tentacle, eyeball, magic glowing ball, head, hand, foot, finger…something that says “yeah they’re dead” Illidan…nothing. Sure you can get his Warglaves but he can live without them, he even throws them into the ground during the fight. Rag doesn’t count cause as long as there are people to summon him he’ll just keep coming back.
5) His story isn’t finished. Blizzard spent a good deal of time to make MalFurion Illidan’s rival. MalFurion and Illidan are the Sabertooth and Wolverine, Batman and Joker, Ryu and Ken of the Warcraft universe…two sides of the same coin. There’s no way that they would let Illidan die and leave MalFurion out of it. Hell Tyrande wasn’t even involved. It’s too much of a cheap ass ending to a story. I may not like some of the lore decisions and WC has more retcons then the entire DC universe but I have SOME faith in them. The way it ended in TBC it was like the final showdown between Bats and the Joker. But Bats is taking a long nap and robin is in the bat cave bouncing up and down so Batmite comes and stops the joker. Really lame. Not to mention it was totally out of character for MalFurion to think illidan needed to be stopped after how the sentinel campaign ended in WC3TFT or…and I really hate to use this example. How he reacted when the Night Elves wanted to put illidan to death in one of those stupid WoW books.
6) Where is he? Well Blizzard has said that in outland there are many portals to many different worlds, he could be on one of them. Maybe Akama was in on it. His part of the bargain? He gets his temple back as long as Illidan can hide there with Maive watching over him. The emerald dream. The smart people in the WC universe know all too well that Illidan is a powerful ally to have when they decide to put an end to the legion. The Legion, who still wants Illidan dead, hide him in a place where they can’t get to. Based on some of the quests in WoW any of the mortal races can get into the emerald dream. The Aspects are hiding him. MalFurion and the Aspects have a good relationship, it’s possible that from the emerald dream MalFurion requested the Aspects hide Illidan and let Maive keep him in check until he’s needed.
7) NONSENSE POOPIE PANTS! Look is Keal’thas, Ony (twice), Nef, Baron Rivendale, and Van Cleef can all come back all but Keal came back from being beheaded there no chance in hell that one of the major lore characts such as Illidan is going to go out like that.
Tnx for comment i like your wiew of story why don’t you work for Blizard :))
…Anyway which Wow book does describe Illidan the most and did you like them…
Thank you for the compliment. I actually was interviewed by Blizzard a couple of years ago. Perhaps some day I’ll talk with them again; they’re a great company.
As far as books go, if you’re an Illidan fan then I recommend checking out the War of the Ancients trilogy by Richard A. Knaak. There are three books, but you can get them bound together as one archive here: http://amzn.to/ar51uO
I rather doubt Illidan is dead, after all in Wc3 FT in the final part Arthas attacks Illidan and almost kills him. Well how come a bunch of players can kill Illidan if the first DK cant??? That doesn’t add up, sure Arthas wasn’t at his strongest but still i don’t think it’s ok. And in WotLK sure Lich King got smashed, but it’s a whole different theme. I think he’ll be back, maybe for revenge and maybe just to fix the wrong he has done, who knows, Illidan is a bit weird I’d say. 🙂
well, Illidan was not only killed by bunch of players, Warden and Akama was along with them as well.
Well yeah but i think that’s still not enough…
I’d like to comment on this 😛
Though the idea of Illidan having a redemption is very good to look at, it doesn’t really fit this greek tragedy Blizzard always sets for ANY character in any universe. From Starcraft to Warcraft. But it is possible he might be alive, somewhere, in spirit.
But a return of Illidan would raise a few questions to gamers of WoW and, more specifically, the lore. If he is to return; what shall he return as?
Although he had no realization of his wrong-doings (as goes for other tragic villains such as Arthas and Deathwing), he might be thinking about it. For years he just stayed within the outland, ever since his defeat at the hands of Arthas. But why was he doing nothing? He could have obviously gained favor with his masters if he caused discord, chaos, or any type of fear that would send the mortals of azeroth into a spiral of decit and madness.
But he didnt. He just remained at his Dark Temple, almost as if he was thinking about what he had done and why it turned out this way. So that would be…10,015 years of exile? He has had more than enough time to think about what has happened, but he never showed any regret for most actions.
Meaning he still has faith in what he did, that he hasn’t seen the ‘error’ of his ways. So if he returns he’ll be something of what he still was; a demon. Although, whose to say.
Blizzard is perhaps thinking of something to do with our great tragic villains, as they seem to be put on a hitman list and we are the hitmen. But why?
There’s two possibilites; Either Blizzard plans on their redemptions or simply wil bring them back and continue the tragedy until it reaches full circle.
That would mean Arthas realizes his sins, and ultimately destroys the Scourge and himself. Ending the Lich King forever.
For Illidan, it would be a self-exile to forever combat the Burning legion until they are destroyed. Thus bringing his story to a final end, as he destroys the force that threatens what he’d value most. His people and love.
For Deathwing it’d mean regonizing what the Old Gods have done, and re-turning with the Dragon flights. rebuilding them into the famned protectors of the world, ec cetera. He’d try to destroiy the Old Gods will all he has.
Will this happen? not likely, but that would be a great way to end their stories.
I just came across this and having quit WoW for University recently and having high lvl Characters I wasn’t even aware of the sudden presence of Demon Hunters in WoW until I read someone’s post in the WoW forum on Blizzard’s website. He made some pretty interesting points in the sudden appearance of demon hunters and the new quests in which Illidan is suddenly seen in a new light instead of being “evil”, as he is portrayed in WoW (to some degree… that Illidan trying to stop Kael’thas was something I never thought about until now but that really got me thinking nevertheless).
As for the Akama quests, it did say during the pre-BT quests that Akama is both “evil and cunning”. Also, there is no where in Warcraft III that said that Illidan was enslaving the Broken (or Draenei, as were called back in WC3 days). Which brings me to think that maybe Akama tricked everyone for his own personal satisfaction… and betrays Illidan simply because Akama is a giant infected asshole.
And as for Maiev.. Why did she never Blink out of the cage? She escapes the Tomb of Sargeras using Blink and survives. Not to mention all that clunky armour she wears. In BT Illidan acts surprised to see her there with Akama and shit, and she has this lame excuse and kills him, where he tells her she’s nothing and all that. And then she kinda gets emo and cries about the fact he’s dead. Well, her resurrecting him or whatever after the raid doesn’t seem very far fetched as people seem to forget that she used to be a priestess of the moon, and at one point was “the” priestess for a short time until Tyrande took over again. I am sure if Maiev tried that she could resurrect Illidan no problem.Perhaps that’s what she’s done… i like that above theory of her making a deal with illidan… but Maiev doesn’t seem like she’d be willing to do that… unless her mental pwnage at Illidan’s “death” changed her from psycobitch to a bit more reasonable. I mean they did spend 10000 years in eachother’s presence, and are probably quite familiar with eachother *not in THAT way.. I am not trying to imply slashing here* so them working something out for a “Win win” doesn’t seem odd either.
hay, i just wanted to add, i´m sure he´s not dead, why?
-Illidan says: Akama. Your duplicity is hardly surprising. I should have slaughtered you and your malformed brethren long ago. He knew that someday akama would betray him ,so why not be prepared for that
– # Maiev says: It is finished. You are beaten.
# Illidan says: You have won…Maiev. But the huntress…is nothing without the hunt. You…are nothing…without me.
# Maiev says: He’s right. I feel nothing. I am nothing. Farewell, champions. I guess that Maiev could not kill Illidan, because the hunt was everything to her, her very existance based on the hunt. I guess in lore she maid has rescued him in her madness of being useless or feelin empty.
Man illidan is my favourite character after arthas yeah arthas but i had a setback when i found he died what abt this arthas dies illidan secretely tries to destroy lich king but instead the lich king promises him powers to defeat kil jaedan what about that
Blizzard should try to make a thing out of dead arthas like any of his item as an artifact to bring him back to world as the lich kel thuzad brought Archimonde poor demon died like a. Baby
all i have to say bout illidan’s death is that everything about him is just to good to be ended in such a simple way
I hope Illidan comes back in the next expac. Hopefully it is a Queen Azhara themed xpac and with her being pretty much Sargeras’s consort, perhaps KJ will come with her to help. That way Illidan can have his redemption, I mean I know that the whole redemption thing is cliche, but with Illidan it fits because he really isn’t evil on the inside, if he could right his wrongs with the Well of Eternity when Azhara tried summoning Sargeras than that would be good. Then it could be like the Lich King where KJ one shots everyone, then Illidan goes apesh*t and weakens KJ enough to be actually killed instead of just sent back. That would most definitely satisfy me
Illidan, you could have died in so many ways, but you died by akama’s plan by maiev’s hand and its over, your long history in warcraft over just like that, come on blizzard could have done better than and i’m sure they’re planning something and it includes him hopefully alive, i don’t really care if his redeemed or not, i just want a great character have a great ending.
Isn’t one of the vials of water from the well of eternity still missing, since Illadin used three to create a new well of eternity, two for his lieutenants and were not really sure if he has it, one highelf used it to create a sunwell, and if Illidan has it he could probably drink it or something and survive and also give him a power up, maybe it can even get rid of his addiction.
Yes, there is still one unaccounted for. Supposedly Illidan still had it, but we can’t be sure.
Indeed, but i always found Illidan to the type who can be redeemed, unlike arthas, who just seems to far off the road of righteousness to be redeemed.
Seriously guys, I read only a few comments that showed the writers understood that illidan isn’t evil. He is definately chaotic alligned and neutral/good could be debated. I relate to illidan because his means of defeating the burning legion and even the scourge have been more successful than any other faction. Maiev getting in his way saved the lichking and doomed countless more. Its comparable to using nukes to quickly end a war.
I have a theory on how illidan survived…I think he planned this all along…as his only way to avoid OJ while he planned his next move.
The last vial makes total sense with my theory, obviously he has planned something no one saw coming. Correction OJ = KJ
I think that in the case of Illidan’s return, that might just be a reference to him being within the Well of Eternity instance/raid. He returns to the game, but it’s him before things really got bad, and back in the day. Could be wrong. I’ve been wrong before. So I won’t be surprised if I am. …I hope I’m wrong. I love Illidan.
Metzen seemed pretty reponsive at BlizzCon 2011 to the audience’s cheers when he asked if they’d like Illidan to return. Illidan’s cameo in 4.3 was already known about, so I don’t think he was counting that. Right now, I like the missing vial. Personally… I’d like to see Illidan just drink it. No experiments, just chug the dang thing. The concept has just been sitting there for too long. What if someone actually drank from the Well of Eternity? Illidan is the most likely character to try something like that… and the result could easily make him a match for Kil’Jaeden.
Cocles! I thought the same thing, its a water source, how comes no one has drank from it to see what happens, it would give him some (hopefully) amazing magical talents. Illidian is a personal favourite o’ mine and I would love to see him come and kick Kil’Jadeans butt! Mainly because he DESERVES redemption.
Jealousy can make people do strange things, and Tyrande, personally, not my favourite person for how she handled that. So yeah give the golden boy a shot at the big time! It would be ace.
if you go into youtube and type in “Illidan Theory” click on the one that says featuring Jesse cox and Sarah ellis it tells a way of how illidan can come back without breaking the lore and still giving him the epic return he deserves. (plus it is discussed for about another 40 mins)
Got a little Illidan Joke here.
Q: Why did Illidan fail is maths test
A: He was not prepared
What do you think came up with it myself.
I want Illidan to come back. He had a really major role at the beginning of Warcraft and he can’t die just like that. It’s so lame.
olhem esse vídeo e vejam tudo sobra o 5.1 e a possível volta de illidan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkrMmOyY5vA
[According to Google Translate: Look at this video and see all the leftover 5.1 and possible return of Illidan.]
The two big figures of Warcraft were always Illidan and Arthas. And from those two, I definitelly like Arthas better, so I am very dissapointed that they want to bring Illdan back and say: “what? Arthas? naaah… hes dead”
I’ll just make my preference clearer. From what I have read, I kind of understand Illidan… to a certain point. He always wanted to fight fire with fire… but the thing is, that he never wanted to fight so the fire would be extinguished, he only wanted to fight for the fight itself… and for the fire itself. He had dozens… maybe even much more opportunities for redemption, but he always willingly chose to screw it and follow his personal goals rather then the greater good. His ego was kind of annoyance and his mad reasoning was not too sympathetic either. He had no restraints to walk over dead bodies of his former allies to steal more power for himself. And the only times he ever worked for the good was when he wanted to make impression on Tyrande. That is the only thing that “redeems him”, but he does not understand and will likely never understand the error in his ways. I mean, he is more then 10 000 years old and he still does the same mistakes. He is not going to change. He is that kind of person, who would bring heads of his enemies to Tyrande as a proof of his favor, and if Tyrande expressed her detest to such an act, he would bring the blood of his enemies next time.
Arthas on the other hand tried his best until he touched the sword. He was going nuts even before that, but you can say that it was due to his hopeless situation. He was never arrogant or power hungry. Not until he touched that damned sword. Before he did that, he told the spirits of that place that he will pay any price if only they help him to save his people.
And, the spirits betrayed him. Or did they?
After he touched Frostmourne, he did everything but saving his people. But at the end of Wrath of the Lich King, it is somehow hinted, that his story was kind of like Darth Vaders story. He did bring balance to the force… even though he had to cull the Jedi order first.
People say that he was all evil. But if that was true, the whole “there must always be a Lich King” does not make sense at all. The Scourge is army which is supposedly so vast, that the entire Azeroth would not stand any chance against it at all, if the Scourge was let loose on the world in it’s leaderless chaotic state. I mean, what kind of army can do a greater damage without a leader than an army with one. And so nearly omnipotent and master planer as the the Lich King. This is entirely nonsense. The only thing that gives sense to it is when Uther says: “I suspect that the piece of Arthas that may be left inside the Lich King is all that hold the Scourge from annihilating Azeroth. A grand sacrifice for a noble soul”. Personally, when I heard this, it was such an emotional experience for me. My hopes, all I knew about him,… I was experiencing the same thing as Jaina at that point. That means that Arthas was keeping protecting Azeroth the whole time.
The saddest thing happened at the very end… Arthas asked his father: “is it over?!” He did not yell “No!!” or “I am the Lich King! You will never…” like other villains do. He asked if it is over as if the endless suffering and horror he lived in was over. In his voice, it was clear that he did not want the curse on him to last any longer. Even more sad were his last words – that he sees only darkness before him. I thougt – really? Why? That means that the endless struggle for control over the Lich King’s mind, the horrors he was forced to do, after holding the Scourge from annihilating the Azeroth, making this noble sacrifice… the fate decides to punish him? It’s said, that you walk into light when you die. He walked into a darkness as if continuation of his torment in form of an eternal punishment. I never thought he would deserve it. I thought that he would either be redeemed and forced to live with the thoughts he did as a living being again without the Lich King’s mind, or found a peace for his soul. I really didn’t think he deserved that. And what I also don’t understand at all – why the new Lich King is not a threat? Surely, the Lich King’s mind has to have an effect on the new wielder of the crown as well.
So my point was, why Illidan has a chance to be redeemed when he also killed many people in search for his personal benefit and was doing it for 10 000 years with utter ignorance to what happens to others? Why Arthas is being punished and remembered as the worst man ever lived, even thought his mind got under an influence so powerful, that none could barely fight it at all? A Lich King could control the largest army on Azeroth, all at once using only his mind. The same mind that controlled Arthas.
I find it unfair that they incline to this.
They are surely preparing a foothold for a new hero Demon Hunter class and Illidan as their new leader. But if there is this fire with fire philosophy, why not use Scourge also? As stated, an army so big that even leaderless, it could devour the whole Azeroth. Now, it is under Bolwar’s control. Why not use THIS army to fight an endless army of demons? Even if the undead prove somehow weaker then the endless demonic armies, still it could do some good. And even if the entire Scourge was eradicated, I think that it would only be for the best.
Metzen likes to pilfer lore from other sources to use in WoW. This isn’t a criticism, as lots of content creators do it. The reason I bring this up is I believe the answer to “What happens with the scourge?” can be found in LOTR’s “Return of the King”. Specifically, remember when Aragorn showed up with the undead army to save the day. I suspect in the final battle against the Burning Legion, Bolvar will show up and turn the tide by unleashing the Scourge upon the demons.
As you described, Arthas had a fantastic death scene. Illidan, however, did not. I believe this is the real reason why we’ll see Illidan again. He needs a better ending; Metzen wasn’t happy with his send-off. Personally, I don’t necessarily want him to be redeemed. What I want to see is Illidan fighting with everything he has. I still don’t believe we’ve seen this yet as I think they only way to evoke this would be if Illidan had just witnessed his adversary harm Tyrande.
I sill very much like the vial mystery, how so much power in a small tube that’s gone missing is awesome and someone should drink it too.
Hi dear friends. My opinion.
I have to say that Illidan and Lich were and are important. Arthas was just a pawn. What I dont know is what is going on with Velen ( there were Velen Kiljeadan and Archimonde) please tell me someone and how he goes in story now and what next. Illidan have to come back as long there is battle there is Illidan. He cant live in peace and he needs enemies. He has special connection with Sargeras. Who else has it beside his ( sargeras) lutenents I mentioned them earlier (Val Kilj Arch). Illidan has something that makes him THE BEST.
Answer to Sargeras question. Why to be good and not bad. Because Sargeras made this chaos from same reason.
I have questions please I need answers from people who know of have theory to answer i like to hear it.
Twisten neither and demons. Why are they important for lore. Ancient gods qhy are they important for lore. And Valen Illidan and Lich. Furion did his part long ago and he is just suport now in Macro-picture. Illidan and Lich are same sword from difrent sides. It is win/win combination.
Please my english is bad and some things dont make sense but I do believe after reading books of warcraft and believe that one day will be movie about Illidan as the best character in all novels alltime. He didnt kill innocent person 1 vs 1. All other things dont matter battle for greater good. Point of novels ia to make living creature closest to God or Gods favourite. No other is close that Illidan Stormrage Shan do. There is no battle he didnt win( in long run) arthas maiev others are just used to discize himself from punishment until the RIGHT TIME. Right time is when Illidan shows Sargeras THE REASON.
I know it is crazy theory still in review though. With crazy immagination but no money you cant do much. One day perhaps. Chears…
Really people! Illidan for sure is more alive went leave everyone and everything.I tink the The Betrayer is
Hire from us making is way…really hope Blizzard!!!
In my opinion Illidan never died actually. At the end of Black Temple, Maiev does not kill Illidan. She just appears and apparently takes him and possibly imprisones him again. When we defeat Illidan he doesn’t die. He probably just fainted but of course we dont see that. Illidan is a very powerful character and Blizzard has been trying to bring him back for a very long time. In Cataclysm we were able to defeat Mannoroth by his side and not only that. We were given the Fall of Tichondrius quest also on Cataclysm. I don’t think he would be coming back in Warlords of Draenor since he is still prisoner by then but I believe that something is bound to happen for Malfurion to decide to release his brother. Maybe if Kil’jaeden finds a way into Azeroth and treats the life of the Night Elves. Maybe Tyrande is bound to die so that the two brothers join and fight to kill Kil’jeaden and then maybe during the fight he will sacrifice his life to save his brother. Knowing that he has no place in this world and avoiding falling,into the demon’s dominion once,more. That totally made sense and it would be AWESOME. I was picturing everything in my mind as I was writing it. I hope you guys like my theory. 🙂
Renxiel I don’t like thought of Illidan has to die. Why ?
Let him be the most powerfuul being after Elders and Old Gods. He must be the one who keeps balance between good and evil. All I see is story going back to beginning. Why Sargeras chose Illidan? Why speak to pawn at all. Furion is defender of Kalimdor.that ia ok but it is borring. Movies are the best when unexpected things happen. It is same story why Sargeras became evil. Or it is all game if magic. i red books and Furuon has given a lot of praise super let him have kids and live peacefully. Let Illidan be Immortal. He is 5 times better than Lich . Illidan is misunderstood. This was all buying time to come stronger. Skull of Guldan, Eye of Sargeras. He knows past he sees magic all kinds. He is both worlds balance. He knows when to run and when to stay.
I apologize for my English 🙂
Shan Do Illidan has to be contacted to other Elders and cmon where is Velen all this time. Bring him back please he is center of all begginning ..
3rd_stormrage_br I said that Illidan is NOT dead. Also, I dont know if you have noticed but Profet Velen is coming back now on the newest expansion; Warlords of Draenor. We are going way back even before Black Temple was raided by the orcs. Before Ner’zhul became the Lich King and before Gul’dan died. We will be playing before the Orcs drank Mannoroth’s blood. Velen, Khadgar, Turalyon, Anduin Lothar, Grommash, etc.. I believe one we will be having problems with Mannoroth (of course), Gul’dan is obviosly one of the main villains on this expansion, and Im pretty sure that the last boss will be Kil’jaeden. Since he will be working with Gul’dan. Cho’gall is also going to be on the bad side. And i guess that by the end of this expansion we will be encountering with Orgrim whom will take Blackhand’s place as warchief. Blizzard has so much to play with on the table with this expansion that it might be one of the longest expansions I guess.. And Im pretty sure that there is a slight chance that Illidan make an appearance on this expansion.. That would be awesome..
Btw.. I know that well, the ending that I said well comes with his death but he is not.. In some way.. Accepted by his people no longer.. He is a story of tragedy just like Arthas’s. Both became corrupted by their desire of saving their people from the Burning Legion. During the battle on the Well of Eternity he used his “evil” powers to defeat Mannoroth and the Highborne so that Sargeras didnt get to Azeroth. He “gave up” his life to defend his people, but mostly to be a hero in Tyrande’s eyes. I honestly dont see him as a “villain”. All he has done is for love. Its true Illidan is little bit selfish and he desires powers beyond his reckoning but he knew the price of his acts. I believe he is imprisoned and guarded by Maiev in his old hidden prison and his perfect comeback would be the death of Tyrande by the hands of his old master: Kil’jaeden. Then the demons and the Burning Legion will threat all life in Azeroth and Illidan will ask his brother for a chance to avenge Tyrande. It would be amazing to see both brother together again, fighting against the Burning Legion. The perfect reason for Kil’jaeden to come back would be if he tries to bring his master Sargeras into Azeroth once again using the magical lake creatd in the botton of the World Tree
But this time Sargeras will do enter Azeroth. I guess if he gets into Azeroth, The Pantheon will come back to help us defeat their corrupted brother.
Renxiel… I see love u have for the lore. It will be excellent story to see it all back from beginning. With all respect let me just say what i didn’t like in your comments even though they might happen to be true.
1. I don’t know why people compere Illidan and Arthas. If u say Lich and Illidan as some opposite force that works against same evil but still fight against themselves. Here is Great point that they work together. Illidan never had point of defeating Arthas on the ice crown, nor Arthas wanted to kill Illidan. Amazing how that was arranged. They were equal first fight and then illidan was weaker after all power he got and became half-demon. Point is what would happen if Illidan won. Illidan shows sanity in many cases and to be honest Furion does not have right to banish magic and destroy Wells of Eternity. Who is he? If Furion cant control their power well Illidan can and will. Just give him some time.
2. Beauty of Warcraft universe is that everyone has power and cant just be destroyed. Why noone can kill Old Gods, or destroy Demons in twister neither. Cause some things are Eternal. Like Hatred, Love, Hunger for power, Greed, Fun. If I can say that Pantheon will support Furion and Sargeras Illidan and story goes again and again. Illidan will lose But Losing he will destroy evil and become immortal. Really wtf guys Illidan spent more years in prison then living life it is wrong. Characters like that are Necessity come in clear all crap others did and leave making them believe he died. The guy is way too cooler than any other character in any game any lore and any universe. He is like Cole in Charmed. He makes sure there is balance always between good and evil. \I might be wrong but that is how I feel. If nobody makes movie about him I will have to. With some bad english and terrible actors, and some 90 godzila screen crap .
Hey all, this is just my 2 cents as someone who was pretty good a predicting what blizzard would do with every xpac…
Illidan as the illidan we know… will be done with the Demon hunter starting area.. which is supposed to be during the time period before Burning crusade …
We will get to see the illidan we know… by doing that starting area
When it comes to the whole idea of the xpac’s raids … i feel that its just illidans body .. .Sargeras will utilize it to “manifest” in this world
TLDR .. this is my guess in short
We will be fighting sargeras at the end of this xpac… he marks illidan.. therefore illidan belongs to him
It only seems fit that he had illidan do all of these things in preperation to utilize his body for his own
Hints that lead me to this prediction
“Illidans BODY was never recovered” (this alludes to the body being an empty shell)
and within the first paragraph of text on the splash page
“they are trying to summon the titan to azeroth”
Now the only way i can see this not being it… is we get there just in time to stop them from manifesting sargeras into illidans body ….
I dont think this will be a story of redemption at all… I feel its going to be more of a lich king styled ending….
BUT thats just my take on it…. its not like i said the next hero class would be a demon hunter back when they announced death knights, or said they will be using a bunch of time travel really soon to try and repair the lore….. which came true with WoD and now we are messing with time in a way with the demon hunter starter zone
I dunno… just seems like they are basically trying to reset the entire storyline …… and if i remember correctly.. it was stated that a titans death (be it any of them.. including sargeras) would cause a catastrophic event
But then again they said that about killing an old god
Hi guys. I am happy to see that Illidan Shan’do got good story at last. Please tell me what do u think. Where will he go from here.
{ 2 trackbacks }